Coventry baby Elle Doherty died following 'sudden' attack by pet dog after she 'brushed against him'

A seven-month-old Coventry baby was attacked by a dog which she is thought to have 'leant' on while crawling on the living room floor, an inquest heard. Elle Doherty was bitten on the head by the Belgian Malinois in an attack which 'transpired within a second or less.'

Images presented to Coventry Coroners Court showed the Belgian Malinois dog being pulled away, and help was summoned immediately for Elle. Coroner Delroy Henry described the incident as 'sudden and unanticipated.'

An hour-long inquest today (Thursday, November 21) was told Elle was pronounced dead an hour after the attack, having suffered a 'catastrophic' head injury at her home in Shorncliffe Road in Coundon. It happened on Sunday, June 16.

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Parents Sean and Natasha Doherty did not attend the hearing after expressing what Mr Henry said was a 'wholly understandable' wish to be excused. A series of freeze-frame CCTV images showed the couple sitting on and standing near a sofa as Elle looked out of a nearby patio window, with the dog, which weighed 31kg and was called Zeus, standing nearby, Coventry Coroners Court heard.

Stills showed the couple intervening to pull the three-year-old dog away and protect and cradle seven-month-old Elle. She had suffered skull fractures, the inquest heard.

Commenting on the stills shown at Coventry Coroners Court, Detective Inspector Anthony Hibbert agreed with Mr Henry that the incident 'transpired within a second or less' and that both parents 'immediately reacted to this situation by removing Zeus from the equation' and taking hold of both the dog and Elle.

Mr Hibbert said: “It appears from when you watch the footage, maybe baby Elle slightly leant on Zeus, and that is when Zeus attacks baby Elle.” In a written statement, Mr Doherty said they had acquired Zeus as a puppy from a breeder in Gloucester in October 2020.

Describing the harrowing incident, Mr Doherty said he initially thought Zeus, who had previously been trained by two separate dog experts, had 'pinned' down a second family pet, a 15-year-old French Bulldog. He said: “I chucked him outside. Elle was on the floor crying. Everything happened so quickly.”

Mr Doherty added of Zeus: “He was good around people, good around other dogs, the only thing he did not like was if he was surprised by another dog. He would just start barking. He never showed any signs of aggression.”

In her statement, Mrs Doherty said Zeus was quite a reactive dog, was muzzle-trained and was 'fine with other people.' She said: “When Elle was born, Zeus showed no interest. He would sniff her a little sometimes, but he was fine.”

Zeus has since been humanely destroyed. Recording a narrative verdict at the end of the hearing, Mr Henry said Elle was looking out of a living room window just moments before the tragedy happened.

He added: “Baby Elle brushed against him. I find as a fact that the dog bit the head of baby Elle. Sadly, baby Elle died a short time later the same day, and the death of baby Elle was caused by a sudden and unanticipated behaviour of a large dog in a family home.

“I really do not think there are any words that I could say to console the family of Elle save to reiterate that my heart goes out to her parents and family.”

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